Main Event | 2017 PokerStars Festival Manila

08-07-2017 19:05 UTC+8

Jaehyun Lim Eliminated in 5th Place (PHP1,500,000)

RazorSharpPro

Level 27 : 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante

The bust outs are coming thick and fast now and the final table is now down to four. It was Mike Takayama the man thinning the field, opening the action with a raise to 150,000 from under-the-gun and Korea’s Jaehyun Lim moved all-in for around 900,000 in total. Takayama called immediately and the cards were revealed.

Mike Takayama:
Jaehyun Lim:

Lim was the at-risk player and Takayama held the best hand which improved even further when the flop fell to give the Filipino top two pairs, though Lim had gutshot straight outs.

The turn saw these outs reduced slightly as Takayama picked up a backdoor heart draw and the river saw the hometown hero improve to a full house and he stacked up to 3,550,000 while Lim headed for the cash desk to collect the equivalent of $29,792.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mike Takayama	3,550,000 1,150,000	1,150,000

Jaehyun Lim	Busted

Tags: Jaehyun Lim Mike Takayama

08-07-2017 18:57 UTC+8

Falcon Shoves Into Halme and Bansal

Christian Zetzsche

Level 27 : 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante

Uday Bansal raised to 125,000 from the button and Antti Halme in the small blind as well as Michael Falcon in the big blind called. The flop came and the action checked to Bansal, who continued for 90,000. Halme check-raised to 250,000 and Falcon then moved all in for 1,715,000.

"Is that around 1.7 million?" Bansal asked and gave it some thought, after one minute of consideration he folded and Halme did so with a shaking head. Falcon looked over at the Finn, who said "I had something."

Player	Chips	Progress
Uday Bansal	9,100,000 -50,000	-50,000
Antti Halme	3,200,000 -130,000	-130,000
Michael Falcon	2,400,000 575,000	575,000

Tags: Antti Halme Michael Falcon Uday Bansal

08-07-2017 18:49 UTC+8

Sam Razavi Eliminated in 6th Place (PHP1,170,000)

RazorSharpPro

Level 27 : 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante

Sam Razavi Finishes in 6th Place (PHP1,170,000)

The very first hand back after the break saw the field reduced by one more, with the United Kingdom’s Sam Razavi falling at the hand’s of Finland’s Antti Halme.

It was Halme the man in the driver’s seat, accelerating to 130,000 from the cutoff and action folded around to Razavi in the big blind, who put his foot on the gas pedal and moved all-in for 1,170,000 in total.

The Finn made an extremely speedy call, usually never a good sign if you are the player who has just pulled the trigger, and the cards were turned over.

Sam Razavi:
Antti Halme:

Halme was in front as a 70-30 favorite and the flop kept the Finn in the lead. The turn left Razavi drawing to the deck’s three remaining aces and the river brought the Brit’s tournament to a close. Razavi departed in sixth place for a PHP1,170,000 (~$23,238) payday and Halme stacked up to 3,330,000 in chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Antti Halme	3,330,000 1,170,000	1,170,000
Sam Razavi	Busted

Tags: Antti Halme Sam Razavi

08-07-2017 18:48 UTC+8

Updated Counts After Level 26

Christian Zetzsche

Level 27 : 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Uday Bansal	9,150,000 150,000	150,000
Mike Takayama	2,400,000 400,000	400,000

Antti Halme	2,160,000 -40,000	-40,000
Michael Falcon	1,825,000 -500,000	-500,000
Jaehyun Lim	1,220,000 -255,000	-255,000
Sam Razavi	1,170,000 70,000	70,000

Level: 27

Blinds: 30,000/60,000

Ante: 10,000

08-07-2017 18:34 UTC+8

Break With Six Left

Christian Zetzsche

Level 26 : 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante

The last few hands of the level brought no further action and the final six players headed into the first scheduled 10-minute break.

08-07-2017 18:31 UTC+8

Bansal Takes a Commanding Lead

Christian Zetzsche

Level 26 : 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante

Michael Falcon raised to 125,000 and Uday Bansal called from the big blind. On a flop of , Bansal checked and Falcon bet 125,000, which Bansal called.

After the turn, Bansal checked and Falcon fired a secone bet worth 175,000. Bansal check-raised to 430,000 and Falcon sighed, but called after brief consideration. The river completed the board and Bansal made it 625,000 to go.

It took more than two minutes for Falcon to make up his mind, but he did call and Bansal rolled over for flopped two pair. "I had ace jack," Falcon said and dropped below average. With six players remaining, Bansal is the only one above average and has more chips than all opponents combined.

Player	Chips	Progress
Uday Bansal	9,000,000 1,600,000	1,600,000
Michael Falcon	2,325,000 -1,325,000	-1,325,000

Tags: Michael Falcon Uday Bansal

08-07-2017 18:23 UTC+8

Falcon Doubles Takayama; Folds to Halme's Shove

Christian Zetzsche

Level 26 : 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante

Michael Falcon raised to 200,000 first to act and Mike Takayama moved all in from one seat over. Falcon asked for a count when the action was back on him, and the shove was for another 785,000 on top. Falcon gave it some thought and called.

Mike Takayama:
Michael Falcon:

The board ran out and Takayama doubled. Once Falcon realized that it was almost one million he had just lost, the Dane was surprised for a second before the next hand kicked off.

Two hands later Antti Halme raised to 125,000 from the button and Falcon three-bet to 275,000 from the small blind. Halme snap-shoved all in and Falcon let out a "fuck" before folding to 1,500,000 on top.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Falcon	3,650,000 -1,350,000	-1,350,000
Antti Halme	2,200,000 650,000	650,000
Mike Takayama	2,000,000 900,000	900,000

Tags: Antti Halme Michael Falcon Mike Takayama

08-07-2017 18:12 UTC+8

Bansal and Halme Take From Falcon; Falcon Busts

RazorSharpPro

Level 26 : 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante

Uday Bansal opened the action with a raise to 115,000 from middle position with Michael Falcon making the call on the button to take play heads-up to a flop of .

Bansal continuation bet 125,000 and Falcon made the call and the came in on the turn. This slowed down Bansal and he checked the action over to Falcon, who decided to play his position aggressively with a raise to 200,000.

Bansal did not look too thrilled at this turn of events but eventually made the call and the river completed the hand – but not the betting. Bansal checked once more and Falcon fired for a rather chunky 500,000 to send the Indian player into the tank, where he remained for a minute before sliding out the call.

Falcon showed down for king-high, meaning Bansal]s was enough to take down the sizable pot and he climbed to 7.4 million while Falcon dropped to 5.2 million.

Antti Halme took another nibble at Falcon’s stack the next hand when the two players tangled in a pot, with the Finn defending his big blind against Falcon’s under-the-gun 125,000 raise.

Halme check called the Dane’s flop c-bet of 150,000 and there was no betting on the turn or river meaning Halme’s was enough to take down the pot, beating Falcon’s . Halme climbed to 1.55 million and Falcon dropped to 5 million.

Falcon busted shortly afterward – but not in the Main Event. The Dane finished in sixth place in the PokerStars Cup for PHP185,000 (~$3,665) and is now free to focus all his attention on the Main Event.

Player	Chips	Progress
Uday Bansal	7,400,000 600,000	600,000
Michael Falcon	5,000,000 -1,200,000	-1,200,000
Antti Halme	1,550,000 -250,000	-250,000

Tags: Uday Bansal Michael Falcon Antti Halme

08-07-2017 18:02 UTC+8

Kenneth Buck Eliminated in 7th Place (PHP870,000)

Christian Zetzsche

Level 26 : 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante

Kenneth Buck stood true to his word and folded every hand until he was forced all in for just 35,000 out of the big blind. Jaeyhun Lim limped in and so did Michael Falcon in the small blind. "Are you going to fold this time?" Falcon joked to Buck, who replied "I have a good hand, I am all in."

The flop fell and both players checked. On the turn, Falcon bet 150,000 and Lim folded.

Kenneth Buck:
Michael Falcon:

A split pot was very likely, but Falcon had a straight and flush draw as well. The on the river indeed gave the Dane two pair and Buck was eliminated in 7th place, missing out on the target he had announced to the table. Buck receives PHP870,000 (~$17,280) and the remaining six players have PHP1,170,000 (~$23,238) locked up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Falcon	6,200,000 150,000	150,000
Kenneth Buck	Busted

Tags: Jaehyun Lim Kenneth Buck Michael Falcon